Moses Rischin

Moses Rischin (1925-2020[1]) was an American historian, author, lecturer, editor, and emeritus professor of history at San Francisco State University.[2][3] He coined the phrase new Mormon history in a 1969 article of the same name.[4]

Rischin is considered an authority on American ethnic and immigration history[5][6] and a pioneer in the field of American Jewish history.[7] Historian Selma Berrol, however, has challenged the minimal treatment Rischin has given to the tensions between earlier German Jews and later Russian Jews in America.[8]

Biography

Rischin was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City.[1] His undergraduate studies were at Brooklyn College.[9] Harvard University awarded him a Ph.D. in 1957.[10]

Ruschin became a professor at San Francisco State University in 1964.[11] In addition to his professorship, he sat on the board for the Journal of American Ethnic History and on the council of the American Jewish History Society.[12][13] During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Rischin was a signatory of "Historians in Defense of the Constitution" wherein 400 historians criticized efforts to impeach President Bill Clinton.[14][15]

He was the longtime director of the Western Jewish History Center, at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, from its founding in 1967;[16][17] from 2005 until approximately 2010, an annual lecture was given there in his name.[18]

A collection of historical essays was published in Rischin's honor in 1996.[19]

A character in the 1967 novel Meyer Meyer by Helen Hudson may have been partly modeled after him.[20]

Books

  • The Promised City: New York's Jews, 1870-1914 (Harvard University Press) ISBN 978-0674715011
  • Jews of the American West, with John Livingston (Wayne State University Press) ISBN 0-8143-2171-2
  • The American Gospel of Success, Individualism and Beyond, Edited with an Introduction by Moses Rischin (A Quadrangle Paperback)

Articles and essays

  • "The New Mormon History", The American West 6, March 1969, 49.
  • "The Jewish Experience in America: A View from the West"
  • Foreword to California Jews (2003) Brandeis University Press

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Passing of Professor Moses Rischin". H-Judaic. 2020-08-21. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  2. ^ My Jewish Learning: The Lower East Side Archived 2008-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Lehrhaus Judaica – The Adult School For Jewish Studies Archived 2008-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ http://www.sunstoneonline.com/magazine/issues/123/123-28-32.pdf[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Utopia as a camouflage : The case of Abe Cahan and his legacy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  6. ^ "Abigail Rischin, David A. Moss". The New York Times. 1993-06-07. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  7. ^ Western Jewish History Center || The Magnes Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Jason Schulman Archived 2007-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Bulletin-Faculty R & S
  10. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2008-02-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "Moses Rischin". Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors. Gale. Farmington Hills, Mich.: 2001. Retrieved via Gale In Context: Biography database, 2020-08-22.
  12. ^ Browse Journals
  13. ^ AJHS: Academic Council Member
  14. ^ Salon Newsreal | "Historians in Defense of the Constitution"
  15. ^ "Historians' Statement on Impeachment". The Washington Post. 1998-10-30. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  16. ^ Katz, Leslie (1997-01-17). "Jewish History Center Marks Three Decades of Capturing the Past". J. The Jewish News Weekly of Northern California. Archived from the original on 2006-05-10.
  17. ^ "Western Jewish History Center". The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, University of California, Berkeley. 15 March 2010. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  18. ^ "Mazel Tov!" (PDF). The Temple Chronicle. San Francisco, Calif. 2005-12-01. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-10. "To Dr. Moses Rischin and Dr. Ruth Rischin on the establishment of The Moses Rischin Annual Lecture at the Western Jewish History Center."
  19. ^ An Inventory of Promises: Essays on American Jewish History: In Honor of Moses Rischin by Jeffrey S. Gurock and Marc Lee Raphael (Carlson Publishing, 1996)
  20. ^ Traister, Daniel. "'You Must Remember This'; or, Libraries as a Locus of Cultural Memories". Daniel Traister's Home Page, University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.
  21. ^ "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved 2020-01-23.